Minus the Bear: tight band, on and off stage

So often, things don't go right.

A new job turns out to be a morass of miscommunications. That "special someone" slowly becomes "indifferent anyone." The great new apartment comes with annoying neighbors. A promising new band fizzles, unable to get along ...

And yet once in a while, everything falls into place. The co-workers at your new job are so cool, it's like getting paid to hang out. A new relationship effortlessly shifts into high gear. The annoying neighbors get evicted.

For a collection of five veteran Seattle rockers who came together as Minus the Bear, that band has been a combination job-relationship-home, all of the aspects clicking from day one.

Like fellow Seattle bands Pretty Girls Make Graves and Pedro the Lion, Minus the Bear doesn't sell huge amounts of albums and certainly isn't on the cover of major publications, yet has attained a definable level of achievement, perhaps best measured by its frequent, long tours on the club circuit. And in February, Minus the Bear is off for its second tour of Japan, then returns to tour the U.S.

Minus the Bear features Jake Snider languidly singing over the intricate, weaving guitars of Dave Knudson, from the hardcore band Botch. One snippy critic sneered "for all the passion in Jake Snider's voice, he might as well be singing about the ham sandwich he ate for lunch"; the more MTB-friendly folks are more intrigued by Snider's cool detachment.

Shortly after forming in mid-2001, Minus the Bear was headlining locally and touring ... and touring ... and touring. The five original members — Knudson, Snider, Erin Tate, Cory Murchy and Matt Bayles — have remained tight, despite an intense travel schedule.

On a drizzly Saturday afternoon, singer-lyricist Snider and drummer Tate met a reporter at a bustling Starbucks on Capitol Hill. Not your typical Starbucks — like the neighborhood (where several of the band members reside), this coffee spot is a mix of college kids, slackers and alternative types; one party of four shares a coffee and pecks out of a McDonald's bag. (McStarbucks?)

When MTB is in Seattle, they hang out at each other's homes, practice nearly every day, catch drinks in places such as Linda's Tavern and the Summit. Snider and Tate seemed a little day-after groggy during the interview, perking up a bit when talking of the band's ability to survive and thrive.

"This is the first band I've been in that's had all the original members this long," mused Tate. "That's weird."

"That's weird, too," Tate foot-noted.

"A little more than half of our life is on the road," Snider said. And yet when they're back in Seattle, they still spend most of their time hanging out — or recording.

The band's recent album, "Menos el Oso" (Minus the Bear in Spanish), received mostly favorable reviews from indie publications. While long-time fans might be disappointed by the choice, most critics seemed happy the band has dropped its use of over-the-top song titles (e.g., "Monkey!! Knife!! Fight!!"), while keeping the complex "math rock" arrangements.

"There's a constant sense of forward motion to 'Menos El Oso' that suits the whole metaphor of growing up and growing out," wrote an Alternative Press critic. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer raved about MTB's "surprising twists and turns and deft instrumental touches. Nimble, jazz-tinged indie-rock that's never wimpy and avoids emo clichés."

Minus the Bear, the Blood Brothers, These Arms are Snakes and Crystal Skulls play the Showbox on Saturday (sold out), to celebrate the fifth anniversary of all-ages club the Vera Project.

Bayles has announced he's leaving the band, returning to full-time producing. (He has produced bands as diverse as Pearl Jam, the Blood Brothers and Vendetta Red.) The Showbox concert will be Bayles last with Minus the Bear.

From here on in, it will be Minus the Bayles.

• Rocky Votolato, soon to be touring with Minus the Bear, plays two shows at the Crocodile on Saturday (4 p.m., all ages, $10; 9 p.m., 21-and-over, $10). Formerly with Waxwing, which had been performing infrequently of late before formally disbanding, Votolato has gone the singer-songwriter solo route, and will be covering selections from his new "Makers" CD (Barsuk Records).

Also on the bill for the Crocodile shows is Slender Means, featuring Rocky's brother Sonny. Another brother, Cody, will be busy at the Showbox, as he's one of the Blood Brothers.

Helping fill the hip-hop void left by the unplugging of Larry's nightclub, nearby Mantra Lounge has switched formats from drum-and-bass/house to "Pioneer Square's new urban nightclub" — to quote a sign on the club's window.

DJ's Doxx and Roc'phella — the latter a Larry's regular — will spin hip-hop on weekends, with reggae on some of the weeknights at Mantra, 210 S. Washington St. (at Second Avenue). The new music programming starts this weekend at Mantra, which opened in 2003 (taking over from Habana).

Larry's, meanwhile, has been closed since its liquor license was suspended, but a voice message promises "we should be open here very shortly ... we will be changing our format slightly, however we will still be a dance club." For more information, phone Larry's at 206-624-7665.

Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com